1.1 Introduction
The Congo drainage basin is situated in Central Africa. Its
hydrological system straddles several countries; Congo and the Democratic
Republic of Congo for the most part, but also Angola, Cameroon, the Central
African Republic, Zambia and Tanzania, stretching through Lake Tanganyika. The
River Congo, the second longest African river after the Nile, second in the
world, after the Amazon, in terms of discharge, itself accounts for half the
total volume of waters which pour into the Atlantic from the Africa continent.
An understanding of how the hydrological system works is indispensable now at
the start of a new century when water is such a crucial issue, especially in
Africa.
1.2 Statement of problem
The Congo basin, just like in the whole of Africa, and
especially in the North of the continent, has been hit by a period of drought
which started to bite in the second half of the 20th century. The
drop in rainfall appeared first in a sub-basin of the Congo, that of its main
tributary the Oubangui, since 1960. Precipitation decreased by 3% between the
two periods 195 1-1959 and 1960-1989. In other sub-catchments (Shangha, Kouyou,
further South), rainfall Figures began to decrease 10 to 13 years later. For
the Congo Basin as a whole, comparison of data for the periods 1951-1969 and
1970-1989 revealed a rainfall loss of 4.5% (IRD, 2002).
As for discharge, data indicated a series of four distinct
phases in the Congo and the Oubangui since the beginning of the 20th
century. During the 1960s they increased, overtaking their average over a
century. The Congo discharge then fell, returning in 1970 to what had been the
normal level, whereas the Oubangui entered a drought phase. This trend
accentuated from 1980 and, until 1996, the Congo discharge decreased by 10% (37
400 m3/s in 1992 compared with an average of 40 600 m3 /s
over that period as a whole), which was the most dramatic decrease of the
century. This fall is much stronger in the Oubangui (- 29%), yet negligible (-
0.2 %) in the Kouyou sub-basin. Overall, whereas discharge decrease in the
Congo Basin is between two and four times the drop in rainfall, it is nine
times that in the Oubangui (IRD, 2002).
Great differences in discharge reduction are therefore evident
between the different rivers in the Congo system, in spite of a generalized
drought which has been prevailing over the entire region. What can explain
this? The researchers have brought evidence here of the strong influence of
soil geology on the effect a change of rainfall has on river discharge. The
various sub-catchments here indeed differ widely in their geology. In the
North, the Oubangui subbasin is a ferruginous cuirassed peneplain which favours
water runoff. Further South, the Shangha sub-basin has a sandy soil where the
land becomes partly flooded during periods of heavy rainfall. The third, nearer
the river mouth, is where the Kouyou sub-basin borders the Bak't's plateaux
consisting of sandstones. These are porous and permeable, aquifers capable of
storing an excess of water. The drought has not had the same impact in the
three regimes. The nature of the geological substrate of the Oubangui sub-basin
amplifies considerably any
variation in rainfall; between 1982 and 1993, a 3% drop in
rainfall induced a 29% loss of discharge. Conversely, the sandy soils of the
Kouyou sub-catchment have a stabilizing effect, in that they store or release
water. During the humid period of the 1960s, excess water from heavy
precipitation entered them and was held there. When drought followed, the water
was released. The decrease in rainfall in this area is about 5.3% but the
effect on the discharge is 26 times smaller: it has diminished by only 0.2%.
The Congo River history shows the emphasis of conducting
details researches since its behaviour can vary in the future while the whole
world is showing its interest the benefit from the Congo Rivers resources in
different domains like hydroelectric power, agriculture, water supply, trade of
wood and other green businesses, and so on. The World Bank, NEPAD, SADC and
many other international organizations are showing their interest to invest in
the hydroelectric power sector, agriculture and water supply in this area.
Its size and the diversity of its tributaries provide the
Congo Basin with an overall stability against variations in rainfall. If the
balance of the hydrological regime of the main river was as delicate as that in
the Oubangui sub-basin, it is easy to imagine the consequences the recent
drought would be having on this region of Africa in particular and the whole
world in general. Therefore, the water balance study of the individual
watershed is requested for the better use of these resources. This study will
bring a more accurate picture of water availability in the Congo River Basin
(CRB) as well as its spatial and temporal distribution through modelling of the
water budget.
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